“Let it be as you desire” (Matthew 15:28).
These were Jesus’ final words, which set this despairing woman’s critical issue free with one sentence from His lips. However, it took a journey to get there. What did it take for the woman in Matthew 15 to get that kind of response from Jesus? If He were to speak those words to the crisis you face today … it would be life changing? … How did she get Jesus to intervene with a miracle?
1. She relentlessly cried out for mercy in verse 22, asking Him to heal the issue. Her need was great, her daughter was demon possessed and all earthly attempts to fix her were not working. This mother’s soul was in agony. She no longer cared about her position, her reputation, and her appearance as a woman “put together.” Her house was a mess and she needed Jesus to remedy this or there was no hope … She was poor in spirit, bankrupt of her own solutions; it was Jesus or nothing.
2. Jesus did not respond, in fact it says, “He said not a word.” Sometimes Jesus does not answer on our timetable. He is silent. We wonder why? It did not stop her from continuing her desperate plea for a God-sized miracle even when the disciples looked upon her with disdain and wanted her to stop. Others may not see why you cry out day and night … it is not their burden, it is your personal torment. You alone approach the Father with your distress. She did not count their dismissive ways as significant. … they were not Jesus, she only needed His attention.
3. She came and worshipped Him in Matt. 15:25. She knew who He was. She had heard He healed the sick, raised the dead, and did what no man on earth had ever done—performed wonders in impossible circumstances—her last hope. She asked Jesus in a posture of surrender, “Lord help me”.
4. She showed great humility when Jesus appeared to be unwilling to help her need. First He did not answer her and then He appeared to diminish her position as she was not of the “right” tribe. She said, “… even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” She was beyond considering herself on Jesus level or those He appeared to associate with. She accepted a lower standing. If she once thought her family had it together, she knew that the horrendous outcries of her possessed daughter let the entire community know, they were dysfunctional, broken, shattered—in desperate need. She accepted a lowly place; she would be content with crumbs. This is when the most incredible miracle in her life took place … from humility, desperation, brokenness and shame …
Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
May your faith be so great in spite of what it looks like, what you feel like, how others treat you, that Jesus’ eye turns your way and with the kindness and abundance of heaven says to you.
“Let it be as you desire.” So be it, in Jesus name, to your situation today.
Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson is the co-host of 700 Club Canada and author of Relentless Redemption. A popular comedic speaker, Laura-Lynn as a distinctive life story that has birthed in her a heart of compassion for humanity and the ability to help her audience laugh at the difficulties of life and overcome in the face of tragedy and failure. She herself has found the true joy that produces wholeness and healing.
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